The directed cognition model assumes that agents use partially myopic option-value
calculations to select their next cognitive operation. The current paper tests this
model by studying information acquisition in two experiments. In the first experiment,
information acquisition has an explicit financial cost. In the second experiment,
information acquisition is costly because time is scarce. The directed
cognition model successfully predicts aggregate information acquisition patterns in
these experiments. When the directed cognition model and the fully rational model
make demonstrably different predictions, the directed cognition model better
matches the laboratory evidence. (JEL D83)